Future
(The Train to Nowhere)
This drabble contains spoilers.
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“If,” Harry says, and Filippa looks up at him. The sunlight sweeping in through the windows bathes her in its glow, and yet it does nothing to make her look happier. Because she isn’t. Happy. At all. The ongoing, drawn-out war has left its mark on all of them.
“If?” she repeats, mouth drawn into a bitter smile, the exhaustion on her face telling Harry a story of nights spent worrying rather than resting. “If what?”
“If I don’t come back,” Harry says, and reaches for her.
“Don’t,” Filippa whispers, stepping closer and wrapping her arms around him. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s a possibility,” Harry admits. “If I don’t come back, I want you to be okay.”
“Harry-”
“Listen. It’s. You’re my truest friend, Filippa. No matter what happens, I want you to be happy in the end. I want you to try, okay? Try and try until you succeed.”
“What you’ll be doing is madness, though,” Filippa says, holding back her tears. “Harry-”
“I want you to have a future,” Harry tells her. “A happy one. Regardless of what happens, I want you to survive. I want you to stay safe and survive and live old and be happy.”
“Don’t speak as if you already know your fate, please,” Filippa pleads. “If you want me to grow old and happy and find peace, you must come back. Harry, you’re my best friend. A future without you, do you know what that will be like?” Her voice is shaky when she continues:
“We’ve already lost so many of our friends, and together, helping one another, we have been able to keep going on. But if you’re gone, too, I will not… I cannot…" Her voice breaks and she takes deep breaths, fighting her tears.
"The future,” Harry tells her, finally letting her go and stepping away. “I want you to have that. For… for everyone. For every friend of ours who lost his or her chance to have a future. Please. Please. Don’t give up on tomorrow.”
marlowfication 